Bylsma looks for picture perfect ending for Penguins

By Steve Keating
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - As a player, Dan Bylsma's Stanley Cup Game Seven moment as a player has been captured in a photograph that he thinks lies buried in a box in his basement.
Now coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bylsma is preparing for another Game Seven but hopes Friday's showdown with the Detroit Red Wings will this time produce a different picture.
Six years ago, Bylsma missed his chance to break open a scoreless Game Seven for the Anaheim Ducks when he failed to swat the puck past New Jersey Devils netminder Martin Brodeur.
The Devils won the game 3-0 and the next day Bylsma opened the newspaper to a picture that has burned into his memory.
"USA Today ...had a picture of me and Marty Brodeur with the puck in the air," recalled Bylsma on Wednesday. "That was my chance when it was 0-0 and I do remember it very vividly.
"I don't know if I saved the picture but I think it's probably somewhere. I don't look at it. It's pretty emblazoned in my memory.
"But that's the agony and the beautiful thing of sport, we play it for some great reasons to win a Cup, to be the best.
"When you don't get it, it's painful. When you get it, it's glorious, and you get a lot of good pictures.
"You take the bad ones if you don't win and you put them in a basement in a box somewhere.
"We're looking for one we can hang on the wall."
It is the second consecutive year Pittsburgh and Detroit have clashed for the Stanley Cup and there have been few photo album moments for the Penguins at Joe Louis Arena.
Last year, the Penguins were shutout in the opening two games of the finals while their only win in the Motor City required triple overtime. In three games in Detroit this year, they have scored just two goals and are without a victory.
Despite the long odds, Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby said Game Seven is a childhood dream come true.
"Like every kid growing up, you play street hockey, you play in the outdoor rinks, you always dream of that opportunity," said Crosby.
"I've watched Game Seven on TV and you dream of making it to the NHL but always something that sticks out is playing for the Cup in Game Seven. We've got an amazing opportunity here." Continued...
Source: Reuters